Spoilers for Steven Universe: Saga///

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Throughout Steven Universe, we can see that they portray Rose as a “morally wrong” character because of her ending and how she affected several characters. Of course, there is no justification for any of her actions but there is an explanation. We only learn about her sort of backward, her story starts from end to start. She first started as a Pink Diamond, which is the highest rank of gems in Homeworld but even though she was a diamond she was still treated miserably by the other gems including the other diamonds. If we analyze the relationship of Pink and the other diamonds we can see that White was extremely manipulative and abusive towards Pink. We can see that White tortured Pink emotionally and allowed the other diamonds to lock her up in the cellar as a form of torture. Yellow is seen as a very angry person towards Pink, her lack of patience made her physically damaging towards Pink as well. In moments of anger outbursts people usually take a physical way of letting out their anger, especially when others are around. Blue seemed to be the most “calm” diamond but she did take more verbal abuse towards Pink. We can see her telling Pink controlling and guilt-tripping things in the flashbacks. This would make Pink feel extreme guilt over herself. Victim blaming is a common method of manipulation and abuse. Blue also threatened Pink with taking what she loved away and she did. Her Pearl. With the help of White of course. Of course Blue wasn’t much different to Yellow, she too would streak Pink but when she couldn’t stand Pink anymore she simply locked her up in the cellar for days. We know that gems need light to maintain their physical form, we can tell that the cellar was a dark place. The diamonds would know that Pink needed light to survive but they chose that place specifically to make her “ learn her mistakes”. Usually in real life abusers don’t give their victims food or water to “punish them”. This is the same case. Naturally Pink would develop a want to leave this place and her gem family. Her life as a Diamond was incomplete even with her rank because she didn’t have any planets which made her an “unimportant” Diamond. We can tell that the only way for her to have fun was with her lifeless balls or playing with her pebbles and pearls. Spinel of course came along since the other diamonds saw her so sad. She would naturally be upset to have lost Volleyball Pearl because she showed an outburst in front of her. Built-up anger and sadness are symptoms shown in PTSD. Victims can’t really control it. She is no different. This does not excuse her hurting Volleyball but we can understand why she did it. After this of course she discovered the Earth with Pearl and saw that she wanted to keep the organic life safe. She knew there would have to be a war. Spinel was a very childish gem, Pink knew that she wouldn’t be a good fighter or that she would distract her in the war, we can try to understand it from many angles but let’s just focus on this one. No one wants to bring a child into a war. The only way to keep her loved ones “safe” that Pink knew since the diamond’s way of keeping her safe was leaving her alone. Pink expected Spinel to not wait for her after she left. We don’t have much knowledge of what Pink was thinking back then but usually, abuse victims can show avoidance or they have abandonment issues. They can either be the ones having difficulty maintaining relationships or they can’t make their loved ones stay. In Steven Universe, we see many hints of real-life problems. During the war, we can see that Pink wanted to start a new life. Wanting to start a new life could mean wanting to change your name or move to another place or cut ties with those you know. Pink did all of those things. By wanting to start a new life she wanted to become a better person. Her time on Earth taught her to grow and to become kinder and more curious about life. We know she only knew lifeless salutes and rules. She was completely new to understanding feelings. We can see how she grew fond of humans. In one episode she mentioned she loved their ability to grow. To grow means to be able to be yourself. That’s why she took the form of Rose Quartz permanently. To grow you just let go of what is hurting you. What hurts Rose is her past and herself. Rose established many relationships on Earth with gems and humans. Let’s take Bismuth for example. She was very close to Bismuth but when Bismuth suggested shattering “Pink” of course Rose was scared. So much that she had fought for would go away if she got shattered or if everyone found out the truth. But how could she explain her truth? She did the same as she did with Spinel. She pushed Bismuth away. Bubbling Bismuth away symbolizes pushing her away from her. Being scared of someone calling out who you were in the past is normal for people who don’t want to go back to it. She didn’t tell any of the crystal gems who she really was for this same reason except Pearl. She had a more romantic but platonic relationship with Pearl. Pearl was one of the first gems who treated her with real care but Rose could only see her as a friend since it was hard to see her more than that after all she went through for her. When she first met Greg she could only see him as a plaything or something interesting but throughout their relationship she started to see him much more romantically and deeply. They were similar. Greg came from a harsh family life, and so did Rose. They both wanted to be free and explore the world. We can see in the episode “ We Have To Talk” that they set boundaries and tried to establish ways to be a better couple. In the end, it’s hinted that they both wanted to make things work and have a life together. Of course, we don’t know exactly how the rest of their relationships went but in the end, we know they decided to start a family together. Rose grew so much as a person and she became kinder. She wanted to have the family she never had, and so did Greg. I wish people understood that in the end, she was a good person just very misunderstood and simply morally grey.

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